Why Is Jimmy Carter Playing Stupid?

Former President Carter said Monday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.”

But Carter warned that there would not be peace if Israel and the U.S. continue to shut out Hamas and its main backer, Syria.

Clearly, the problem is democracy. If only the U.S. and Israel weren’t so…whatever they are. Hello? Jimmy? You do realize Hamas is a terrorist organization? They blow things up and murder people? You know?

Israel considers Hamas to be a terrorist group and has shunned Carter because of his meetings with Hamas’ supreme chief, Khaled Mashaal, and other Hamas figures. Hamas has been behind dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed some 250 Israelis.

“Israel considers Hamas to be a terrorist group…” I’m sorry, did I miss something? Is there anyone who doesn’t consider Hamas to be terrorists? Except former presidents and the AP? I’m surprised it doesn’t say “Hamas is alleged to have been behind…”

And then there’s this:

“Let me read exactly what they accepted verbatim. This is their language: ‘If President Abbas succeeds in negotiating a final status agreement with Israel, Hamas will accept the decision made by the Palestinian people and their will in a referendum monitored by international observers … even if Hamas is opposed to the agreement,'” Carter said.

But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in Gaza said Hamas’ readiness to put a peace deal to a referendum “does not mean that Hamas is going to accept the result of the referendum.”

I was reading the AP story earlier today. On the sidebar under “Related News” were two headlines. One from The Jerusalem Post read “Hamas vows “harsh” attacks on Israel, previous attacks were “practice” and one from the NYT read “Carter Says Hamas and Syria Are Open to Peace.” I think these juxtaposed articles sum up the situation: there’s a huge disconnect between reality on one hand and Jimmy Carter, the AP, the NYT, etc. on the other. The whole situation would be laughable if there weren’t deadly consequences to the actions of these useful idiots.